It's interesting how powerful first impressions are. Last year I bought a tub of Mickey Lee's "The Kraken" and loved the smell, loved the lather, but unfortunately it burned my skin. I sold it and I wasn't interested in trying any more MLS soaps for fear it would happen again.

A week or so ago I went to the big shave event at Old Town Shaving and I ended up speaking with Eric McDaniels, who is the owner/artisan with his wife. He's a Navy guy, lives in San Diego and we hit it off as I have a good friend who is a SEAL down there and I love hanging out in SD.

He gave me a couple of samples of his soap, and I used one this morning. The lather was every bit as good as I remember, and the soap was fine on my skin. A very nice shave. Now I'm thinking about a tub of their Colonia di Agrumi -- even though the last thing I need right now is more soap.